1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vortex power plants, and particularly to plants with tornado-type wind tower supplementary enhanced by kinetic energy and heat of staged system of steam jets utilizing water heating source for all-weather energizing of vortex flow, large-scale power generation in a single flow-through electrical generator over a long time, and water or conditioned air production.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The wind vortex towers offered previously utilize for power generation only kinetic energy of a secondary airflow. The airflow is sucked by a vortex flow through an opening(s) with an air turbine(s), after getting the wind into the tower through guiding and accelerating moving structures, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,070,131, 4,452,562, 4,499,034, 6,016,015, 6,215,199 and 6,518,680. Various sources and ways of heat intake near bottom of the wind vortex tower also were suggested for power augmenting, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,211,084, 4,452,046, 4,935,639, 5,096,467, 5,478,197, 6,532,740 and 6,590,300. Partly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,046 and 6,590,300 disclose usage of heat of saturated air near the bottom, augmenting vortex power. However, such vortex process can proceed interactively only at sufficient wind as a medium for energizing of vorticity. The near-bottom spraying of the superheated steam, and higher dispersion of the heated water into outside airflows, as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,532,740, and do not energize vorticity without the wind. They do not control differently the zones of vortex flow and do not adapt the chamber for direct power generation. Moreover, the number of air turbines used before the chamber is limited by number of large assemblies moved for catching the changeable wind.
The limited strength of conventional air turbine and mentioned moving structures used in the referred patents, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,590,300, defines an attainable electrical power several orders of magnitude lower of the excess power of tornado-type flow. Usage of more than one air turbine as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,499,034 and 6,532,740, or several interconnected towers as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,046, not assists the creation of space saving and cheap vortex unit of large rated power.
The same relates to concept of a non-confined vortex flow possible in the torrid zone via artificial near-bottom swirling of the upward convection flow of the solar heated air, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,084. Every developed whirlwind gives low capacity that corresponds to limited capacity of the conventional turbine. But absence of confining tower makes vortex flow unstable under any wind, reduction of air temperature or raise of air humidity. An attempt to augment power through near-bottom heating of the air, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,084, increases losses of energy and moisture into the atmosphere above the near-bottom turbine. The similar attempts to support a confined large-scale vortex flow via artificial near-bottom swirling of the preliminary heated convection airflow face the problems of too large sizes of heating collector and chimney, large number of turbines and instability under winds and changes of atmospheric parameters.
This invention discloses a second medium for stable energizing of vorticity and zoned control of tornado-type flow with support of large-scale electrical power over a long time during the calm and insufficient winds. Such medium is a saturated steam introducing kinetic energy and heat along the height of the tower via staged system of quasi-tangential and upward steam jets. This energy complements the inlet wind kinetic energy, or replaces and exceeds it at the calm. The system of steam jets provides starting and augments airflow capacity giving minimum sizes of the tower. The saturated steam is taken instead of superheated steam for immediate partial condensing of the steam at contact with colder air in the zones of vortex airflow. The release of latent vaporization heat intensifies raise of vortex kinetic energy through high decrease of pressure in polytropic expansion process. Moreover, a peripheral layer of steam-air mixture has controlled intermediate pressure between higher ambient pressure and lower pressure of inside flow. This layer is supported by the steam jets, helical swirls along the zones of vortex flow and locks an inner air having lower pressure. It makes unnecessary the most stressed moving structures under high velocities of vortex core. In this invention are used only outside adjustable vanes near other zones under lower inlet velocities of the wind or sucked free air. It differs from unreliable placing into tower the long flexible valves facing high velocities of accelerated airflows, as the valves (16) in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,639.
In the referred patents was not suggested a way to place a prime driver for power generation near the vortex core whirling with maximum velocity, and thus to increase radically an attainable electrical power and plant efficiency. In this invention a single flow-through electrical generator directly induces an alternating voltage near the vortex core. The generator replaces the conventional air turbines and generators, which are compatible only with low velocities of the secondary sucked airflow. Such generator can attain power adequate to excess power of the steam-enhanced tornado-type flow. That is two and more orders of magnitude higher than can attain today air turbine. The design of generator adapted to operation near the fast whirling vortex core differs from the known kinds. For instance, from the ionic, MHD, piston, and ferrofluidic generators of direct current as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,064,409, 4,242,591, 4,433,248 and 4,691,130, which can not work near the vortex core. The attainable power, efficiency and operation stability of the generator are augmented additionally via coordinated usage of kinetic energy of the forcing wind or steam jets before and behind the generator.
The conventional solar concentrators and atomic power plants, used in the referred patents for heat utilizing, are oriented on possibly higher initial thermodynamic parameters. Meantime, in this invention the outside heating and flashing of low-temperature water with further acceleration of steam jets into the zones of vortex flow is preferred because yields minimum stresses, sizes and quality requirements to a heating system. Moreover, the sucking abilities of the distanced tornado-type flow are used through water ties for water acceleration giving intensifying, additional decrease of sizes and auxiliary energy of the heating system. The swirling and separating abilities of the vortex flow also are used for recirculating and purifying of condensate precipitated from the swirled saturated air. This condensate is used for heating, recovery of heat losses of electrical generator into the heating system, and delivery of excess to the consumers. This differs from purifying and heating of additional water as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,046, 6,532,740 and 6,590,300. The correspondent raised losses of purified water after these processes can not be preferred at water deficit.
The negative safety effects of combining with atomic power plants using direct ties of tower with reactor where not accounted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,652 relating to convection tower. The vortex tower can suck radioactive media through these ties at reactor damage. It relates also to the fuel combustion near tower bottom, as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,639. Its combining with saturated air or vapor corrodes equipment and is chemically dangerous, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,046 and 6,590,300.
The air heaters used inside the convection tower in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,652 are not realistic for destroying vortex flow. Large number of air heaters or turbines near bottom, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,652, also can not be preferable for vortex towers designed with usage of near-bottom wind as a vortex energizer, as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,452,046, 4,935,639 and 6,590,300.
Meantime, the design of heating system and storage can define the operational power output and cost for any vortex plant. Moreover, they define also the attainable power and annual operation time due to functioning of invented steam-enhanced vortex tower at the calm and insufficient winds. In this invention the preferred designs of the beating system alternatively installed as single or as compatible pair outside or distanced from the vortex tower are the following:    a field of low-temperature solar heaters with water heating reflectors and collectors sectioned for raise of attainable capacity, different from design of sectioned reflector in U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,493; the field can be supported and decreased via intensified and sectioned solar pond storing preheated surface water; condensers of thermal or atomic power plant having low vacuum, supported through water heating up in safe intensified heaters by gas exhausts of boilers at thermal plants, or by steam rejections of turbines, moreover such combining gives parallel power outputs of the distanced heat supplying plant and vortex tower connected through ties of heated water fastened by sucking vortex flow for intensifying of the heating process;    obsolescent thermal or atomic power plants receiving a sparing regime with decreased initial parameters 4 used for heating of water in safe intensified beaters for power generation in the vortex tower; a safe low-temperature atomic reactor placed under complementing and heat storing solar water pond; the reactor design is similar to pool-type reactor on freon in U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,352, or to LWR simplified due to low water temperature and increased specific heat rejection; water is heated in intensified safe heaters and supplied to distanced power generating vortex tower sucking heated water through the ties; steel or pre-coated tube surfaces in solar storage utilizing also geothermal or waste beat with salty agents. These modifications give the alternatives of separate preferred combining with steam-enhanced vortex tower. They give such new effects as all-weather starting-up and large-scale power generation over a long time, having alternatively any one or two compatible and complementing kinds of renewable, waste and secondary or initial heat source(s) that can be supported by storage of low-temperature heated water. The principal difference of this invention from the patent DE 3924968 A1 with extensive air convection tower is that in this invention are used the wind energy and the heat energy from any one or two compatible water heating source(s) just in one the same single vortex process with single flow-through electrical generator of high rated capacity located in the compact vortex tower with highly intensified vortex flow. In the patent DE 3924968 A1 the increase of total rated wind power or hydraulic power can be achieved only through simultaneous increases of the number of wind turbines, tower height and diameter, and water pumps, giving exceeding raise of the limited over-stresses of the tower walls and base. The inlet velocities of the ambient air sucked by vortex flow can exceed several times the limited by stresses maximum velocities of the near installed wind turbines. The solar heating of the air maid in the patent DE 3924968 A1 is low effective especially at peak loading because of low heat transfer to the air and absence of storage of the heated air. In this invention is heated, stored and used for flashing the water having relatively high heat transfer and specific heat value. The flashed steam gives high latent vaporization heat at low auxiliary demands.
For comparison it is reasonable to underline that no one combination of the decisions, compatible with wind vortex towers in the patents referred above, yields possibilities to start up and stably generate electricity without sufficient wind, without limiting moving structures under high air velocities and without limiting low-velocity wind turbine(s). They can not utilize large amount of heat augmenting power without violation of limited number of turbines or number of interconnected towers at the same site.
No one combination of the patents yields possibility to start up the vortex plant and stably generate electricity over a long time at the calm and insufficient winds. No one combination can give large-rating electrical power from a single compact generator, adequate to excess power of the steam-enhanced tornado-type flow and comparable with attained rated power of thermal and atomic units. No one combination disclosed the preferable modifications of large-capacity systems heating low-temperature water, intensified and compacted through water ties with sucking tornado-type tower and compatible with it as the single, or in the compatible pair complementing one to another. Just these features absent before are the principal novelties of the invented steam-enhanced vortex power plant.